Monday, December 14, 2015

Riske Business: Am I Wrong? (2015)

by Adam Riske
Here are 50 things that were on my mind at the movies this year.

1. Am I wrong or was Blackhat actually not too bad?

2. Am I wrong or was The Boy Next Door this year’s best “bad” movie?

3. Am I wrong for walking out of Mortdecai, Love the Coopers or In the Heat of the Sea?

4. Am I wrong or, despite enjoying it on the whole, was Kingsman: The Secret Service a little too mean-spirited?
5. Am I wrong or is The DUFF the perfect airplane movie? I mean they made that movie to be watched on an airplane, right?

6. Am I wrong or F Will Smith movies? #Focus

7. Am I wrong or was Maps to the Stars maybe the ickiest movie of the year?

8. Am I wrong for sort of enjoying Chappie even though I know it’s not “good”?

9. Am I wrong or am I the only person who saw Unfinished Business?

10. Am I wrong or is Run All Night super underrated?

11. Am I wrong or are you incredulous that not only Insurgent came out but there are also two MORE DIVERGENT MOVIES on the horizon? I mean, seriously, who cares?

12. Am I wrong or is Danny Collins the perfect movie to see before going to Old Country Buffet?

13. Am I wrong or is Get Hard the textbook example of what is wrong with studio comedy?

14. Am I wrong or does Noah Baumbach (While We’re Young, Mistress America) suck now?

15. Am I wrong or is the ending to Furious 7 just about perfect?
16. Am I wrong or did you also think Britt Robertson (Tomorrowland, The Longest Ride) was going to be a thing?

17. Am I wrong or is Unfriended the best studio horror movie of 2015?

18. Am I wrong or are you also in disbelief that Avengers: Age of Ultron came out this year? It feels like it was released five years ago.

19. Am I wrong or did Charlize Theron steal Mad Max: Fury Road from Tom Hardy?

20. Am I wrong or is Poltergeist (2015) the most pointless movie of 2015? Oh wait, it’s Entourage.

21. Am I wrong or is Aloha the most incompetent movie of 2015?

22. Am I wrong or was Spy not that funny?

23. Am I wrong or was Elizabeth Banks fantastic in Love & Mercy?

24. Am I wrong for genuinely enjoying Jurassic World?

25.Am I wrong in thinking that Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is the most aggravating movie of the year? Or maybe it’s Chi-Raq?
26. Am I wrong or is The Wolfpack a fascinating story but maybe not a very good documentary?

27. Am I wrong or is Ted 2 not as good as Lights Camera Jackson said it was?

28. Am I wrong for wanting to somehow beat up Terminator Genisys?

29. Am I wrong or was Ant-Man crazy boring?

30. Am I wrong or was the Judd Apatow stuff in Trainwreck bad but the Amy Schumer stuff good?

31. Am I wrong or was the trailer for Southpaw the most spoilery ever?

32. Am I wrong or do you also want to see Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation) a lot more often?

33. Am I wrong or was the Vacation remake the most misguided comedy of the year?

34. Am I wrong or were the conversations in The End of the Tour fascinating?

35. Am I wrong or is Laurence Leboeuf (Turbo Kid) a national treasure?
36. Am I wrong or was Fantastic Four the biggest waste of time of 2015? It’s a movie for no one, made by no one.

37. Am I wrong or is Meryl Streep a bad singer (Ricki and the Flash)?

38. Am I wrong for liking how messed up the ending of The Gift is?

39. Am I wrong or does Straight Outta Compton encapsulate everything that’s good (and not good) about music biopics?

40. Am I wrong or did We Are Your Friends deserve a bigger audience?

41. Am I wrong or are you also happy that M. Night Shyamalan directed a decent movie again (The Visit)?

42. Am I wrong or was Sleeping with Other People the most underseen romantic comedy of the year?

43. Am I wrong or was Black Mass not bad but just bad in comparison with the other great mobster movies?

44. Am I wrong or could you also watch The Intern 100 times?

45. Am I wrong or did The Martian also make you want to eat baked potatoes and ketchup?
46. Am I wrong for seeing The Walk in 2-D? The answer is yes.

47. Am I wrong or is Bridge of Spies the best spy movie of the year?

48. Am I wrong or was Spectre worse than Quantum of Solace?

49. Am I wrong or are you super tired of Seth Rogen’s drug humor (The Night Before)?

50. Am I wrong for liking the twist in Krampus?

27 comments:

  1. Am I wrong for liking Love & Mercy more than Straight Outta Compton? And furthermore, am I wrong for evangelizing L&M to everyone who will listen? You raise another great point that, in addition to Paul Dano being excellent, Elizabeth Banks is, indeed, fantastic in the movie.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great questions. I thought about answering them all but because I haven´t seen at least half of the movies, that wouldn´t be appropriate...but I hope it´s ok that I enjoyed In the Heart of the Sea, liked the mean-spiritedness of Kingsman (especially the church sequence), hated Chappie from the bottom of my heart and want to eat my martian baked potatoes without ketchup.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Am I wrong or is Ted 2 not as good as Lights Camera Jackson said it was?" - HA! Definitely choked on my coffee reading this!

    I love that you walked out of those three films. I also concur - F Will Smith - I'm super excited that he didn't return for ID4:2.

    Am I wrong that there wasn't one good comedy this year or am I just not remembering?

    Of course, you are 100% incorrect on Unfriended as it is not only the worst Horror film of the year but ranks up there as one of the worst of all time. Sorry, am I wrong that every chance I get to bash that film I will? Debatable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would nominate both Trainwreck and What We Do in the Shadows as good comedies from this year.

      Delete
    2. Yep, I forgot about those. Thanks!

      Delete
  4. You're quite right about Blackhat - not a masterpiece by any means, but a solid thriller. You're half right about Spy - It's kinda funny in the beginning, incredibly funny in the middle, and horribly unfunny at the end (since when is a 50 Cent cameo something to be proud of?). You're wrong about Ant-Man - I love that movie, and think it's the first since the first Iron Man to do a great job of not taking itself so seriously.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, and you're totally right about Age of Ultron. I think it feels old because all the hype mysteriously vanished at the instant the movie itself came out.

      Delete
  5. 50. Not wrong at all.
    49. I'd have to say you're wrong there.
    48. I think you may be right.
    47. If not best spy movie, maybe best "classic" spy movie.
    46. (Good answer.)
    45. Maybe?
    44. I haven't seen The Intern once yet.
    43. You're not wrong.
    42. I know I haven't seen it yet.
    41. You're not wrong, BUT... I'm still afraid it could be a fluke.
    40. Can't answer that.
    39. Not wrong.
    38. Nope.
    37. I don't know, but you make me afraid to find out.
    36. I'm gonna say you're wrong, simply because Terminator Genisys came out this year.
    35. Dammit, I need to see Turbo Kid.
    34. You're not wrong.
    33. I really have no inclination to see Vacation. Maybe five minutes when it's on FXM.
    32. You ain't wrong, sir.
    31. You might not be wrong there, either.
    30. I'd have to get to you on that.
    29. Not boring. Just okay. It had its moments.
    28. Not at all, you go ahead and kick that movie's ass. It deserves worse.
    27. Not wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You're right on most of these. I especially agree with 4, 15, 18, 32, 33, and 48.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 26. I still need to see The Wolfpack.
    25. Aggravating as hell.
    24. I don't think you're wrong at all. I enjoyed Jurassic World in an old school drive-in kind of way. I still think The Lost World: Jurassic Park is the best of the sequels, though; for the same drive-in reason.
    23. She was great in Love & Mercy!
    22. Not wrong.
    21. I'm prolonging the inevitable watch.
    20. No, it was still Terminator Genisys.
    19. You're absolutely right.
    18. It's actually still on my favorites list, so no.
    17. No, that would be Krampus. But I did like Unfriended. It's on my favorite horror films list for the year, but I thought Krampus was better.
    16. She could still be a thing... maybe?
    15. Not wrong.
    14. Sadly, you may be right.
    13. Isn't Vacation the textbook example of that?
    12. I don't I want to go to Old Country Buffet. Ever.
    11. I cared so little I avoided without nary a qualm.
    10. You could be right about that.
    9. What's Unfinished Business?
    8. No.
    7. Kinda?
    6. Right on the money.
    5. I can't answer that.
    4. "Mean-spiritedness" in movies has never really bothered me. If it works for the film, it works for the film.
    3. I don't advocate walking out on a movie in the theater, even if I know I can't stand it and I don't see anything possibly changing my mind. But I have been known to give movies on Netflix the half hour test. In the case of In the Heart of the Sea (I haven't seen Mortdecai or Love the Coopers... instead of walking out on a movie, I'll avoid seeing it in the theater if buzz is bad), I thought it was okay. But if you had stayed, do I think you would have changed your mind on it, based on how it ends? No, probably not.
    2. Haven't seen it yet. How does it compare with Enough?
    1. I've been hearing that it isn't half bad from a few people. My curiosity for that movie is building.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's interesting to hear that you thought Unfriended was the best studio horror movie. I might need to check it out. I feel like that movie has gotten some unnecessary hate from people who haven't even seen it.

    My problem with Kingsman wasn't so much that it felt mean spirited, and more so that I feel like it's lighthearted tone didn't quite mix with it's some of it's dark subject matter.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Just re-watched Age of Ultron last night and I thought the same thing. I was getting confused on some of the plot points because I could have sworn it came out before Winter Soldier.

    After watching Poltergeist, pointless was the exact word that came to my mind too.

    I thought Spy was fine (it had a few good laughs)....it was some of the gag reels that really cracked me up though.

    I'm not the only one who enjoyed Jurassic World? Awesome!

    Everything about The Gift was great....especially the messed up ending.

    ReplyDelete
  10. No, Adam, you are RIGHT about #'s 3, 9, 13, 14, 15, 19, 25, 34, 45, and 50.
    Yes, you are WRONG about #'s 8, 22, 23, 24, 26, 37, and 48. Well, you asked.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Am I wrong or was Bridge of Spies funny? I think I laughed through half of it? I did. I thought the second half of Spy was funny. Am I wrong or is Amy Schumer not always funny? I feel like I'm missing something there. You're right, Seth Rogan's drug (and crass sex) humor is not funny and he doesn't need it so I'm not sure what's going on there.

    I felt offended watching The Intern. It wasn't only that oh yes, GRANDPA will know exactly what I, as a mother (if I was one) and working woman, should do. GRANDPA will tell those non-working women how to support a working woman. It hit on so many other wrong notes as well. I haven't sat down to think it totally through yet but the gender (not to mention race) politics in that felt super strange.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I felt the same thing about Bridge of Spies at a few points during the movie. The whole "Would it help?" joke was funny the first time, an awkward laugh the second time, and all too expected the third time. There were a few other beats that felt comically out of place in a film that was otherwise pretty serious, but I still really liked it.

      Delete
    2. I'm not crazy- that's always good to know. Ya I really liked it, too.

      Delete
  12. I love these random columns, Poltergiest and Entourage gag was my fave

    I hated them both, And I will admit I kinda liked Entourage the Series for the first few seasons, but I could be wrong? I liked nothing about Poltergiest though I really like Sam Rockwell especially in Moon

    ReplyDelete
  13. And I agree with you and thevBig boss about Turbo Kid, since Patrick mentioned Apple is his favourite Character of the year it got me thinking and he is right, No one made me feel good like Apple did all year, She is perfect

    ReplyDelete
  14. Haven't seen alot of these, but here are my thoughts. Right about #'s 4, 11, 18, 19, 22, 23, 26, 29, 32, 34, 36, 38, 49. I won't say where you're wrong because there's no need to be confontational. Except for #24. You're wrong about #24. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I liked the twist in Krampus. I think it'll keep me coming back to the movie more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Was the twist that grandma didn't do shit? I got so excited when she was all "Y'all go, I'll hold Krampus off' and then she just stood there and let him kill her? Mess.

      Delete
  16. I choose to peacefully co-exist with movies like the Divergent series. If they help fund the Sicarios of the world, so be it.

    Black Mass was perfectly mediocre. It's the E-Quaid-Er of movies in 2015.

    Furiosa is definitely the central figure, but I think the best part of Fury Road is the relationship between the two lead characters. She did get her own prequel comic book, though.

    Am I wrong, or does The Martian leave hope that the Prometheus sequels won't suck?

    ReplyDelete
  17. I would say on point for most part. I can't judge on Spy, Turbo Kid, The Intern, and the Gift (I've had to work up the courage to watch this one). Will have to watch before all the Oscar bait comes out and takes up all the topics of conversation.

    ReplyDelete
  18. You're wrong about #1. Blackhat is GREAT. It is my favorite movie of the year.

    ReplyDelete
  19. You're right about Black Hat. It's quite entertaining and I'm a sucker for that Michael Mann summernight vibration. That said, compared to Sicario, Black Hat is a sedative. But then, every other 2015 movie is.

    ReplyDelete